To Be A Great Executive — Be Flexible.

"In life, change is inevitable. In business, change is vital." - Warren G. Bennis

Encourage others to break tradition, when appropriate, in order to find better ways of doing things. Remember: If you continue doing what you've always done, you'll continue to get the same results.

Understand and appreciate that others may not do things exactly as you would do them. Be open-minded . . . you might discover their way is even better.

Remove Stop Signs to Progress by avoiding statements such as "We've tried that before" or "That's not the way we do that here."

Don't cast all decisions in cement. Be willing to modify them as changing circumstances or data dictate.

Working Longer, Never Get Anything Done? Rid Yourself of Interruptions.

"Hey, you got a minute?" That's a question - not a demand. Don't get angry with the interrupter if you answered, "Sure!" to their question. General rule: If you cannot eliminate the interruption, make the interruption as short as possible. 1. Meet them at the door. When people arrive to interrupt, meet them at the door and talk outside of your office. Letting them in may add minutes to the interruption.

2. Stand Up! When someone shows up unannounced, keep standing until you decide if you want the conversation to continue. Standing is not comfortable for most people and the length of most interruptions is in direct proportion to the comfort level of the interrupter.

3. You're the Timekeeper. Signal the end of the time allotted by politely saying, "One more thing before you go." Be respectful but  take control. Remember that this is your office and you're responsible for the time here.

4. Get rid of extra chairs in your office. You can always pull one from somewhere else if you need it.

5. Positioning. Arrange your office so that your desk doesn't face the door. People are less likely to interrupt if they can't see your face.

Henry Ford was always dropping into the offices of his company's executives. When asked why he didn't have them come to him, he replied, "Well, I'll tell you. I've found that I can leave the other fellow's office a lot quicker than I can get him to leave mine."

10 Killer Executive Interview Questions (to ask and answer).

Interviews have morphed into very weird experiences for my clients. I've heard some of the most stupid questions, tests & assessments come out of highly respected organizations. My opinion? I think they're lazy.

Bottom line — you want a good candidate for that position? You'll have to work for it. Ask very specific questions and see HOW they answer.

Here are some of my favorite questions I would ask executives interviewing for a position under me (I found it in an old file from my days in corporate):

1. RESULTS - Tell me about the results you have achieved at your last two positions. How did you achieve them? What was the effect to the business?

2. KNOWLEDGE - Give me an example of how you understand my business (broad). Where do you think the growth areas are? Where do you think we can do better with customer experience? Give me an example.

3. RISK - When was the last time you took a risk? What did you learn from it? (Cause & Effect - learn from mistakes; learn from successes).

4. COMMITMENT - Show me how you are committed to your customers, associates, peers?

5. COMMUNICATION - Tell me about a time when you communicated effectively (up-down-across — effective, clear, convincing).

6. SPEAKING UP - Give me an example when you pushed back, made some noise, offered constructive dissent.

7. STYLE - From where do you manage (Desk, email, phone, floor, in-person)? When do you make your BEST decisions?

8. PEOPLE - What are you currently working on (personally)? What are your people working on? How do you grow them?

9. EXECUTION - What actions do you take to deliver on time? How do you connect yourself to priorities?

10. ROLE PLAY - Show me how you solve problems (I give them a typical scenario they would face in that position).

You can easily modify these questions for yourself - whether you are promoting internally or hiring externally. You can even develop powerful PARs (call me, I can explain - 203-500-2421) for YOUR interview and talk to these points. You will come off looking like a true professional.

Stay Alive: 10 Career Tips to Win in Bad Times.

I know - things are bad out there and you're worried about your position. Firings are capricious and no one knows where the axe is going to fall next. Based on many of my current client sessions and 20+ years of management and coaching, here are 10 productive actions you can put into practice to solidify your position. 1. Don't drink the Kool-Aid. The news is sensationalized and fear sells. Things are rarely as good as they seem and things are rarely as bad as they seem. If you allow yourself to give in to the news, you will determine your destiny. When people tell me about the bad economy, I tell them “I have chosen not to participate. So let's get to work.”

2. Reach out to your contacts - NOW. Past and present contacts, colleagues and friends are the lifeblood of any career (“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”). The ’robustness’ and recency of your contact list is a great barometer of your career’s health.

• Call your closest contacts & colleagues and ask them how they are. Listen. Don't talk, offer help. Have lunch, drink coffee, and strengthen those contacts!
• Send birthday or ‘just for being you’ cards to keep in touch and make them feel special. No one does this and it makes the recipient feel special.

3. Focus on what you do best. You need to present a extremely positive persona to management - this is the time where they might be looking at cutting the bottom 10%.

• Be a partner to your boss - ask for more work. No one really does it and you will stand out as a “can-do” member of their team.
• Come in early or stay late (or do both!). The perception of a hard worker is a valuable one during bad times. In addition, you might be there when your boss comes back from a grueling exec meeting and needs help with the newly assigned project.
• Be smart and flexible - look at all of your activities and projects - which ones are more important and which are the ones that can be shelved, streamlined or retired?
• The 80/20 rule comes into play - make a list and then review with your boss.

4. Keep your ear to the ground. It is essential in down times to have a clear picture of where your company’s revenues and expenses come from. Companies are retrenching and focusing on the areas that will deliver the highest ROI.

• Stand back and see what projects, departments, or people are slated to be cut.
• Ask questions, read industry journals/blogs, and keep up on the business news.
• Track your company on the web - sometimes you hear something that isn’t currently communicated in your company. But take it with a grain of salt.
• Listen to what your colleagues are saying - but don’t accept it as gospel. Also, don’t add to the gossip or play “what-if” scenarios with them - it will waste time.

5. Look at your “product”. It’s IMAGE, IMAGE, IMAGE. How do you clothes look? How does your hair look? How do YOU look? Hate to say it - it’s perception people. Not only when people first meet you - it’s when they work with you day in and day out. Critically look at yourself and see what you might need to change and how you would go about it.

• Always dress one step above everyone else. No excuses. If everyone is casual, you wear country-club casual. Ensure that your clothes are made of the highest quality and are regularly pressed and clean.
• Spend the money and go to a better barber/stylist. I don’t have much to work with and I still go to one of the most expensive barbers in the area. He makes me look as good as I can.
• Do you need to tone your physique? Hit the gym - watch what you eat. It’s that simple.

6. Connect with new people. The best defense is a good offense. This may be a sports cliche, but right now, it rings true. Now is not the time to go into hiding, based on fear of the recession. It’s the time to ramp up your networking, personal public relations, and marketing to actively remind people of your presence.

• Go to associations, meetings, conventions that are associated with your profession.
• Not only will you meet a lot of engaging people, you will re-energize your batteries AND your might get a lead on a great position!
• Set up coffees and lunches with people that you don’t know, but want to know. We all have people that we admire - reach out to them - take them to lunch. They eat just like you do! And what is the benefit? They are always on the lookout for new talent!

7. Review your resume. Too many people let their resumes grow old gracefully. When they really need them, they have to scramble and cobble together a mish-mash of experience that no one really wants to read. You need to get your resume in order NOW. So some tips:

• Use a professional resume writer. They should run $200-$400, but you will get an incredible document that sells. Call me - I know the best!
• Keep it concise. Unless you have been in the business for 30 years or are a CEO - keep it to 2 pages or less. Again - people are looking for someone who can say less with more impact - your first chance is your resume.

8. Get financially fit. One of the biggest worries people have during downturns is losing their job. They crawl into a hole and hope for the best. Usually, it is financially motivated. How would you feel if you had six months worth of available funds if you suddenly lost your job? A little bit better? A little bit more confident?

• Start now. Having 3-6 months of current income stashed away in a cash account (savings, money market) will allow you to act normally during times like these.
• Worst case scenario? If you do lose your job, you have 3-6 months of full-time looking to find a new one before you begin to really deplete your savings. In addition, you probably will get some type of severance with COBRA - so stop worrying!

9. Talk with your boss. During an economic downturn everyone is skittish and hungry for information. You’re wondering how the company is doing, whether the team is vulnerable to layoffs, or if the strategy for the next few quarters has changed.  Even if the situation is tight, being upfront with your boss about your concerns creates and reinforces an environment of trust.

• Catch them at the end of the day - sit down and just converse with them. During a pause ask (in a very light interrogative tone): “So how are we doing? Is there anything we need to worry about?”. Your boss will probably open up and tell you info that normally they would not tell the team. Try it - it works.
• But if you have a boss that tends to keep information or hide things, watch their body language - if their eyes look downward or away from you when talking - they might be hiding bad news.

10. RE-vision your career. I love downturns in the economy. Why? When executives get scared, they get going and they get SMART. They begin to look at everything they do - how can they use time more effectively? If the company is losing customers, where can they find new and different customers/clients?  Take a step back and RE-vision your career - understand your key interests and strengths and investigate new opportunities in YOUR marketplace.

• Are you still a hot commodity on the market?
• If yes, great - get out there and sell YOU to potential new bidders.
• If no, you need to re-vision your career - measure your capabilities and apply them to the NEW marketplace. I know of a lot of realtors, hedge fund managers and financial planners that are doing this right now.

You need to partner with an expert and co-create your new career vision and direction.  So get going!

Stop Micromanaging.

All managers want their employees to be more productive--to collaborate more energetically, to work more efficiently. But in pursuit of productivity, many fine managers have traipsed down some perilous paths. by Christina Bielaszka-DuVernay at HBR

Yes, we're talking about micromanagement. It's a natural tendency, even among seasoned managers, to think close examination of a direct report's work will improve it. Sure, such scrutiny might reveal opportunities for improvement: processes she could streamline, shortcuts she's taking that undermine quality, shortcuts she's not taking that she should.

But tread this path too often, and any gains realized from process improvements will be offset by the deleterious effects of disengagement.

What is disengagement? Fundamentally, it is a state of distance from one's work. A disengaged employee puts in time but little else, and his apathy affects not only his own productivity but that of his colleagues. Because a consistent pattern of micromanagement tells an employee you don't trust his work or his judgment, it is a major factor in triggering disengagement.

And disengagement is costly.

According to the book "12: The Elements of Great Managing", absenteeism caused by disengagement costs a typical 10,000-person company $600,000 a year in salary for days where no work was performed, and that "disengagement-driven turnover costs most sizable businesses millions every year." By contrast, engaged employees are more likely to show up to work, to stay with a firm longer, and to be more productive while they're on the job. Gallup research cited in the book finds that highly engaged teams average 18% higher productivity and 12% greater profitability than the least engaged teams.

The good news is that you, as a manager, have enormous influence over your direct reports' engagement levels. So what can you do to increase their engagement and hence their productivity? For starters, you can take a page from the Gallup playbook and make a practice of building on employees' strengths.

Say you have a direct report who rarely submits sales reports on time or fills them out correctly. Ask yourself, "At what tasks does this person excel?" Maybe he's great at troubleshooting customer complaints. Or he's a consistent source of creative ideas for the next promotional effort. Whatever his strengths, think about ways to build on them so that they can add more value to your organization. At the same time, see if you can minimize or redistribute some of the work at which he's less successful. Budgets, capacity, and other constraints can sometimes make this impossible, and the best course will be to let the person go. But given turnover costs and the looming talent shortage, figuring out a way to make an employee's strength your strength is likely to be worth the effort.

Other actions you can implement:

• Be clear about performance expectations for new hires. As they grow more comfortable in their roles, lessen your direct supervision of their work.
• If you find yourself feeling consistently negative about a particular employee's performance, check that you're not falling into the set-up-to-fail syndrome described by Insead-affiliated management scholars Jean-François Manzoni and Jean-Louis Barsoux. This syndrome is marked by a downward performance spiral. The manager, expecting poor performance from the employee, starts noticing only mistakes and overlooking or minimizing successes.To avoid this pattern, regularly challenge your perception about the employee by asking yourself: What are the facts about her work? Is it as bad as I've been thinking? Of course, it may be that her performance is so bad that you'll have to let her go. But in some cases, adjusting your lens might reveal that she's actually doing some worthwhile work.
• You don't want to create a culture that says you're always right, and the employees are usually or always wrong. So invite employees to challenge your opinions. Over time, as they grow more comfortable in this role, they'll feel freer to discuss any performance concerns they have with you.

When your employees perceive that you value their strengths and their judgment, everyone benefits. As their engagement increases, it's likely that their performance will as well. And the time you might have spent micromanaging them can be put to more productive use.

15 Steps to a More Productive Workday.

We often face the challenge of getting the most productivity out of our time and achieving maximum efficiency. To be successful, you’ll have to place a priority on productivity and find techniques that work for you. From the blog:  Vandelay Design

Each of us is unique and no process will work for everyone, but all of us have plenty of things that we can do to improve our workflow. In this article I’ll cover some of the lessons that I have learned through my own experience.

For me, productivity is a constant goal, and always interested in finding new ways to get more out of my time. I’m far from perfect in these areas, but making consistent improvements. Hopefully some of these things will help you in your own work.

1. Have a Task List for the Day The best way to have an unproductive day is to work throughout the day without a clear definition of what you need to accomplish. Simply having a to-do list will go a long way in keeping you on track.

One of the problems with work is that there is usually a million different things that you could be doing on any given day. While all of these things may be helpful to your business in some way, they’re not all equal in terms of importance and urgency. Without a task list you run the risk of working all day on things that seem like they are benefiting your business, but in the end you’re not focusing your efforts on the right tasks.

2. Prioritize Tasks One of my biggest frustrations in my daily work is that it seems like I’m never able to do everything I want to do in a day. In this case, a task list is likely to have a few things left untouched at the end of the day. Because of this, it’s important to not only create a task list, but also to prioritize the items that you’re looking to get done. Your tasks will differ from day-to-day, but it’s likely that you’ll have a few very important things that must get done, and then some others with varying levels of importance and urgency.

My personal approach with prioritizing is to simply to set the tasks that must get done, and then I also list a few stretch goals for the day. If and when I get all of the most important items done for a particular day, at that point I can move on to the stretch goals, which usually carry less urgency than my main tasks. This way I don’t finish my work early and have nothing to do, and I also don’t have too much on my plate that causes adverse effects when I can’t get everything done.

3. Finish Tasks Rather than Starting New Ones Most executives have a few different projects going on at all times. On top of that, each project may have several different tasks that need to be done, and you may even have some of your own personal projects that require time. With all of these things fighting for your attention at once, it’s tempting to dig in to new tasks before completing others. By doing this you’ll usually be costing yourself more time and effort later when it comes to finishing those tasks and projects.

In order for an executive to keep the income flowing, it’s critical that projects are getting finished. Being able to finish a project will help you to get paid sooner and allow you to move on to another project. From my experience, when I’m struggling with too much to do, it’s best if I can devote time to tasks and projects that are near completion. Being able to get things crossed off the list feels good and helps to reduce stress and create a more productive environment.

4. Know the Strongest Times of Your Work Day Some people work best early in the mornings, others prefer afternoons or evenings. Everyone has times of the day that are stronger than others in terms of focus and productivity. I tend to get up early, but I’m not at my peak for the first few hours of the day. I’ve found that rather than fighting this and trying to get more done at the start of my day, I’m better off to use that time for tasks that are less demanding mentally. During the times when I struggle to concentrate I’ll clean out my email inbox, moderate and respond to comments on my blog, evaluate my overall process on current projects, or anything that requires time but not the highest amount of mental focus.

With this approach I’m able to make productive use of my least productive times of the day, and that will save my best hours for more taxing activities like working on a client’s website or writing articles. With the varied tasks of a executive, there are always plenty of things that need to get done that require different levels of intensity in terms of work and focus. If you can match your best times for work with the most intense tasks, and your least productive times with more routine tasks, you’ll get more out of your day.

5. Give Yourself Some Flexibility I’ve already talked about the importance of having prioritized tasks and the use of different times of the day, but it’s also important to not get so rigid with this that you don’t leave yourself some room for flexibility. There will be some days that don’t go quite as planned and when you don’t feel like you do most other days. Allow yourself to have some flexibility to change things around according to the circumstances.

6. Have a Specified Ending Time for Work One of the biggest challenges that I face throughout the week is knowing when to end my work day. When you’re working for someone else it’s much easier to make a clear break, but as a executive there is always a temptation to keep working.

With so many things to do and your income riding on getting things done, it seems like you will be more productive by working longer days. But from my experience I’ve found that I often feel like I get the most done when I have something going on that forces me to end the day at a specific time.

With a set ending time it’s easier to get moving quickly and to get more productivity out of each hour, since they are limited. Without a set ending time I often find myself working with a little bit less efficiency since I feel like I have plenty of time.

On those days I wind up with less time away from work and I often don’t seem to get that much more accomplished, even with the extra hours of work.

7. Bulk Process With so many different things to do, it’s likely that your day is broken up into many small blocks of time for specific tasks. In order to achieve more efficiency and productivity, try to use larger blocks of time and get similar things done all at once (depending on the nature of your work this may or may not be possible).

For example, if you can avoid working with your email open you may be able to spend less time each day on email by checking in 2 or 3 times throughout the day and emptying your inbox each time. Checking email many times throughout the day may lead to more time than necessary. An example from my process is writing blog posts.

My preferred method of producing content for my blogs is to have specific days set aside where this is my only focus. I can finish one post and move right on to the next. I may have a list of ideas that I want to work on so I don’t waste time trying to decide before I start writing. With this approach I feel like I’m able to get more out of my time as opposed to writing a post here and there whenever I have time.

8. Track Your Time You might be completely surprised to know exactly how you spend your time throughout a work week. Tracking your time can help you to find inefficiencies and ways to improve your productivity. Without knowing how your time is spent, it’s hard to know how you can improve the use of your time. I’m not suggesting that you need to track your time everyday, but if you do it for a few typical days you may be surprised at how easily you can identify some areas for improvement going forward.

9. Recognize Your Distractions One of the benefits of tracking your time is that it helps you to identify things or activities that may be distracting you in your work. Whether or not you are tracking your time at any giving point, one of the first steps to working productively is to recognize your distractions. Eliminating or controlling these distractions will lead to greater efficiency, but in order to do so you’ll first have to accurately recognize and understand specifically what challenges you have when it comes to working productively.

10. Have Realistic Expectations Ambitious executives will often feel the pressure to get more done than is humanly possible with a given amount of time. This can obviously lead to increased stress and pressure, not to mention a lower quality of work. Realistic expectations will allow you to be able to accomplish the things you set out to do with a day of good work.

The biggest part of having realistic expectations is the amount of work that you assign yourself for the day. Taking on too many projects at once and trying to juggle too many different tasks will result in a cluttered work day with unimpressive results. Resist the urge to try to get too much done, and focus more on doing your best work with what is currently on your plate. If you struggle in this area you may be able to increase your productivity by outsourcing some of your tasks.

11. Plan Your Next Day at the End of Each Day This is probably more of a personal preference, but I have found that if I take a few minutes at the end of my day to plan for the next day, I’m typically more aware of things and I can do a better job as opposed to waiting until the next morning to plan the day. If I wait till the next morning I find that it takes me a few minutes to remember exactly where I was on certain items at the end of the last day, and I may overlook something that I would have remembered had I taken care of this the day before.

At the end of each day I can look at my to-do list for the day and quickly see where I stand on the items that I wanted and needed to get done. At that point, planning for the next day is a quick process and I know exactly where I need to start, without running the risk of forgetting things. Now I’ll waste no time the next day trying to figure out what I need to do.

12. Get Enough Sleep the Night Before During my time as an executive, particularly when I was freelancing part-time on top of a full-time job, I’ve averaged less sleep than at any other point in my life. However, sleep is an important part of a productive schedule. Each of us functions differently in this area, but personally I tend to notice it the most at the very beginning and end of the day. If I’m feeling well-rested I can be productive through these times. If not, I struggle to stay on task.

13. Eat Healthy The food that you put into your body can have a big impact on your energy level and your feelings in general. I’m not going to go into detail here because I’m not that knowledgeable on the topic, but generally eating healthy foods will allow for better productivity.

14. Get Fresh Air One of the things I dislike about working from home is the amount of time that I spend inside the house. I often find that it helps just to take a few minutes for a walk or a drive to get some fresh air. Sometimes working in a different environment and getting out of the house for a while can really lead to a boost in productivity. This is something that you can accomplish with just a few minutes of your time, but it may have a noticeable impact for the next few hours.

15. Work in a Comfortable Environment As a executive, you’ll probably be spending a lot of time in an office. Making that office a comfortable space is important in terms of increasing your productivity. What you do with the office isn’t really important, but it should be an area that allows you to focus on your work comfortably for long periods of time. I recently wrote a post at DesignM.ag on the essential qualities of a home office that takes a more in-depth look at this subject.

Global Crisis Forces Corporations To Look Beyond Quarterly Earnings.

With the US economy in turmoil, Wal-Mart, the nation’s leading retailer boasting more than 144 million customers per week, is taking on a new leadership role. In a country where about one person in three is considered obese and 47 million people are without healthcare, the company is taking a unique stand in educating both its consumers and suppliers. by Rahilla Zafar at Insead

Five years ago, it would have been unheard of for the company’s top executives to be talking about reducing the firm’s carbon footprint, cutting transportation costs, reducing excess packaging, creating more transparent supply chains and starting initiatives to provide credit to millions of low income Americans who normally would not have access to any.

More and more companies are finding that their efforts to reduce their carbon emissions and become more environmentally friendly have led to increased profits.

At the 2008 Net Impact North American conference held this month at Wharton Business School, Matt Kistler, Senior Vice President of Sustainability at Wal-Mart, spoke about his company’s role in shifting consumer culture.

The story began 10 years ago, while Kistler was managing coffee sales at Kraft Foods. A group of Yale University students had begun requesting that their campus food service serve only 'socially-conscious' coffee.

Kistler admits that his intention at the time was to add a product to the portfolio that consumers wanted and not necessarily do something for the planet but in the process of doing that, he discovered much more.

“I got thrust into working with different NGOs (non-governmental organisations) and people like Paul Rice, the founder of Transfair USA, enlightened me,” says Kistler.

In 2004, after joining Wal-Mart, he raised the question if the company should be thinking about sustainability in packaging. His insights led to company executives deciding to hold the retail giant’s first ever meeting on sustainability.

“Our goal is to take care of the customer and such initiatives help people both save money and live better,” he says.

It was not long ago that the green movement was perceived as being an alternative lifestyle rather than something mainstream. Now, many Americans are beginning to recognise that what they thought to be the norms of everyday life are unsustainable.

Kistler says that at Wal-Mart, it was not just about the company making changes like working on supply chains for responsible sourcing and using more fuel-efficient vehicles, it was also about ensuring that their two million employees understand that there are ways to live better.

“We started a personal sustainability project to get associates engaged. It is a voluntary program first launched in the United States which has prompted thousands of pounds of weight loss, more employees biking to work and the company saving hundreds of thousands of kilowatts in energy,” says Kistler.

The change also brought to the attention of employees things they normally would not have given a second thought about. For example, one employee noticed that a vending machine had an unnecessary light bulb in it. After suggesting to management that the bulb was wasting energy, the company removed the bulbs from all stores nationwide, saving the company one million dollars a year.

Kistler says the company can go further in guiding customers in what they should buy, but the question remains: how far can it go?

“The chairman of Patagonia, an organic clothing retailer, says we should work with suppliers to change some of our product ingredients. For example, high fructose corn syrup is part of the ingredients of some of the products we sell. Wal-Mart could ask these companies to shift to cane sugar, which many believe to be a healthier alternative,” says Kistler, who admits the company is not quite there yet to make such a push.

However Wal-Mart has worked with suppliers to eliminate red and green lighting on devices such as televisions.

“It is staggering the number of power plants that would be erased from the grid from just a small decision like that. Thinking like that is simple and our company plays a unique role in making those changes happen,” he explains.

The biggest roadblock for companies is making many of these changes in the current economic situation.

“We are willing to pay more for products coming from companies who show that their price increase is related to making investments to become more fuel efficient and taking better care of their workers. But do not bring us higher costs that are not justifiable,” says Kistler.

“We are going to make some mistakes. This is a new area, there are no books written telling us what to do. It is okay to take a prudent risk as long as the mistakes are not long lasting,” he adds.

For John Brock, CEO of Coca-Cola Enterprises, sustainability has taken centre stage at the company.

“When Wal-Mart, our largest customer, says we are going to have a sustainability conference and want all CEOs to come, we show up. The commitment of companies such as Wal-Mart and (UK retailer) Tesco has been remarkable; institutionally this is no longer niche, it is mainstream” says Brock.

Brock adds that the game has changed tremendously.

“We are working with NGOs as partners, when five years ago none of us would have been caught in the same room together. We are all committed to the same end result. There are some disagreements over how we get there, but sustainability has become the core of everything we do.”

One of the company’s long-term goals is to sell a litre of beverage without a single drop of water going to waste. Today, it takes 1.77 litres of water to make one litre of Coca-Cola. When government officials in Georgia, where the company is headquartered in the US, asked the beverages firm to reduce water usage by 10 per cent, the company was able to cut it by 30 per cent.

But in the current economic downturn, many believe that while consumers are becoming increasingly aware, they are not willing to pay more for change.

“Americans are keenly interested, but will not sacrifice formula and an increase in price. It is our responsibility to figure out how to deliver,” says Brock.

Many believe much will now depend on the leadership provided by the new administration.

According to Paul Herman, founder of HIP Investor, a San Francisco-based company which advises investors and corporations on how to be more sustainable and profitable, the United States could be the world’s leader in producing the technology for alternative energy.

“That is something possible in one presidential term. Today for solar energy, it is a competition between China, the United States and Germany. If there was a government incentive to invest in it, large corporations like General Electric would. China has invested 586 billion dollars into its infrastructure, which will likely include investments in clean energy,” says Herman.

The best role for the United States government would be to set the efficiency metrics and rewards for outcome, but not prescribe what process or technologies companies should use, Herman says.

“For example, when the government subsidised the price of ethanol, it put pressure on corn prices. A better approach would be when the government set fuel efficiency standards, which they have not updated,” explains Herman, who believes the top companies in the US could be doing much more.

“Of the S&P 100, a third are reporting sustainability data and actively integrating that within their management systems. Only ten of the 100 are actively educating Wall Street and just a few are having proactive conversations with shareholders on this topic,” says Herman.

Cross-sector discussions also remain limited and it is yet to be seen if a government push will be enough to bridge the divide, or if it will take another crisis to get companies to shift from self-interest towards a common interest.

The Secret of 'The New Marketing' by Seth Godin.

This, in two words, is the secret of the new marketing. Find ten people. Ten people who trust you/respect you/need you/listen to you...

Those ten people need what you have to sell, or want it. And if they love it, you win. If they love it, they'll each find you ten more people (or a hundred or a thousand or, perhaps, just three). Repeat.

If they don't love it, you need a new product. Start over.

Your idea spreads. Your business grows. Not as fast as you want, but faster than you could ever imagine.

This approach changes the posture and timing of everything you do.

You can no longer market to the anonymous masses. They're not anonymous and they're not masses. You can only market to people who are willing participants. Like this group of ten.

The timing means that the idea of a 'launch' and press releases and the big unveiling is nuts. Instead, plan on the gradual build that turns into a tidal wave. Organize for it and spend money appropriately. The fact is, the curve of money spent (big hump, then it tails off) is precisely backwards to what you actually need.

Three years from now, this advice will be so common as to be boring. Today, it's almost certainly the opposite of what you're doing.

Catch Seth at his blog.

No Time? Focus on the Important.

Busy people have two options when they decide how their workdays will go: they can choose to be reactive to urgent demands on their time, or proactive about focusing on what they decide is important. The only way to actually get things done is to mitigate the urgent to work on the important. Let's differentiate between what I call urgent and important.

Urgent tasks include things like that frantic email that needs a response RIGHT NOW; a sudden request that seems like it'll only take two minutes but often ends up taking an hour; a report you've got to write up before a meeting. More often than not "the urgent" is putting out fires, or busywork, or tasks that you'd rather do first because they're less intimidating than your current project list.

Urgent tasks are usually short-term and we're drawn to them because they keep us busy and make us feel needed. (If we're busy people, we must be important people.)

But dealing with a constant stream of urgent tasks leaves you wrung out at the end of the day, wondering where all the time went, staring at the undone actual work you've got to complete.

On the flip side, important work moves you and your business towards your goals. The important stuff doesn't give us that same shot of adrenaline that the urgent requests do. It can involve thinking out long-term goals, being honest about where you are and want to be, and just doing plain hard work that feels boring and tedious. On a personal level, important stuff may include making time to get to the gym every day. On a business level, important stuff may be devising your yearly plan, breaking it down into quarterly and monthly deliverables, and evaluating your current performance against last year's plan. (Doesn't the mere thought of going to the gym and deciding on this year's goals make you want to check your email? Still, that's the work that will help you meet your goals.)

If your workplace encourages that frantic vibe of headless-chicken running and constant urgency, it can feel impossible to focus on what's important versus what's urgent. Still, an awareness of the difference and a few simple techniques can help.

Choose three important tasks to complete each day. Write them down on a slip of paper and keep it visible on your desk. When you have a moment, instead of checking your email, look at the slip, and work on an item. Keep the list to just three, and see how many you can complete.

Turn off your email client. Shut down Outlook, turn off new email notifications on your BlackBerry, do whatever you have to do to muffle the interruption of email. When you decide to work on one of your important tasks, give yourself an hour at least of uninterrupted time to complete it. If the web is too much of a temptation, disconnect your computer from the Internet for that hour.

Set up a weekly 20-minute meeting with yourself. Put it on your calendar, and don't book over it — treat it with the same respect you'd treat a meeting with your boss. If you don't have an office door or you work in an open area that's constantly busy, book a conference room for your meeting. Go there to be alone. Bring your project list, to-do list, and calendar, and spend the time reviewing what you finished that past week, and what you want to get done the following week. This is a great time to choose your daily three important tasks. Productivity author David Allen refers to this as the "weekly review," and it's one of the most effective ways to be mindful about how you're spending your time.

by Gina Trapani at HBR.

Grow Your Business Tweet by Tweet.

Entrepreneurs are finding the fast-rising microblogging site to be a useful tool for reaching out to customers. By Jeremy Quittner at Newsweek

Here's what happened when Chris Savage, the chief executive of Wistia.com, searched for the phrase "private video sharing" on Twitter, a social networking site. One post he found read, "A teacher requested a private 'video sharing' Web site so that specialists can observe student behavior—can anyone refer one?"

That got Savage's attention. He e-mailed back: "Still looking for a private video sharing site?"

Minutes later came the reply: "YES! It's the first request for one—thought I'd hit up my tweets before [I] go digging."

Savage: "Cool. You may want to check out Wistia.com. Full disclosure, I'm the CEO; -)"

While this exchange may seem a bit cryptic, Savage is one of a growing number of business owners to whom it makes an awful lot of sense. Savage frequently trolls Twitter looking for sales leads for his five-person, $1 million company, which makes software that facilitates video sharing through a private network. Although Savage has been using Twitter for only a year, it's already helped him find 12 new clients for his Lexington (Mass.) company. "This is a no-cost way of marketing," he says. Because Twitter provides a public forum, each post becomes a form of promotion as other users follow Savage's posts. "You are building a reputation; people can go back and look at your Web site and the quality of your content, and you are becoming part of the community," Savage says. Other business owners are using Twitter for market research and to keep an eye on customer service issues. BREVITY'S BRAWN Twitter distinguishes itself from MySpace (NWS) and Facebook by relying less on picture-laden profiles and more on posts of fewer than 140 characters, referred to as "tweets" or "microblogs." Twitter's simplicity is paired with a powerful search function that allows users to mine others' updates in real time for useful nuggets. "Twitter lets you stay on top of what is happening within your client base," says Chip Lambert, owner of Network2Networth, a business development consultancy in Phoenix. "You can look at conversations and reposition yourself, your products, and your services in a way that appeals to the market you are reaching out to."

An estimated 5 million people use Twitter, according to Cambridge-based Forrester Research. Twitter co-founder Biz Stone says businesses "that are not quite big enough to make an impact on the Web, or to spend resources there," have been some of the earliest users of the site. He says some San Francisco-based coffee shops and bakeries have sent tweets to tell their customers about specials or products they may be out of that day. One Los Angeles taco truck uses Twitter to tell customers where it will be that day. "Businesses use this as a hybrid between marketing and customer service," says Stone. "They use the Twitter Search to track mentions of their products and services and as a way to begin a conversation."

Like any online forum, Twitter may not be for everyone. Its immediacy and conversational nature make it a boon to those whose products and services may take a bit more explaining or back-and-forth. And it can be a time suck. "One of the major drawbacks is that [Twitter] is very addictive," says Savage, who has 800 followers and in turn follows just as many. He uses a popular add-on called Tweet Deck, which lets members organize messages by category.

GETTING STARTED Joining Twitter is easy and free. You create a user name and password, then log onto the site. (You can also sign up to have tweets delivered to your mobile phone.) Once inside, there's a big box at the top labeled "What are you doing?" While you could start by typing something as mundane as "I am drinking my coffee and checking out Twitter," you'll see tabs on the right that say "following," "followers," and "updates," enabling you to follow others whose posts you find interesting. Once you've been posting for a while, people follow you too. A certain viral element takes over, and soon you may wind up in the middle of a Twitter community with common interests.

You'll also find thousands of irrelevant posts. "It is easy to get lost and sidetracked," says Lambert, who suggests entrepreneurs think strategically about how they might use Twitter. A mortgage broker, for example, could follow discussions people are having about new tax credits, learn what advice they're getting and which sites they're linking to, and then compose a suitable message to address them.

The viral component of Twitter has helped Andra Watkins, founder of Positus, a consulting firm based in Charleston, S.C. She joined Twitter about six months ago, and at first found it a bit daunting. "I did not grow up using these tools and it has taken me time to develop the voice and approach," she says. Still, she has built a following of 600 Twitterers—friends, colleagues, bloggers, and potential customers. She in turn follows about 600 other people, including a group from her home state of South Carolina—85% of whom she figures could help bring in business. She also follows influential bloggers and those with large Twitter followings, in hopes of establishing a dialogue with them, and keeps tabs on her competitors. Watkins sometimes sends out tweets that have nothing to do with her business, such as a few complaining about exercise. "It makes me more approachable," Watkins says. In the past six months, she's found 10 new paying clients through Twitter.

Other business owners, like Michael Coffey, chief executive of BlueCotton in Bowling Green, Ky., are using Twitter to enhance customer service. The 25-employee, $4 million company lets customers design their own shirts online. For the past two months, two of Coffey's factory workers have used iPhones to snap pictures of completed shirts, and then to send photo tweets to customers right before shipping. "Customers have some anxiety when they purchase shirts online," Coffey says. The tweets help alleviate those concerns—and have won new customers who spot the designs on Twitter. "Having people follow BlueCotton is a feather in our cap," Coffey says. "It helps create real fans of the company."

Want to keep your job? Be happy.

Study shows that a bright disposition helps workers navigate darker times. By Becky Fleischauer

Does the recession with its rampant layoffs and cutbacks make your job look better all the time? Believe it or not, donning a pair of "recession goggles" can be good for your career and your mental health. Research shows that an attitude of gratitude in trying times can not only help you keep your job, but get you the job you want.

It's a counterintuitive concept, for sure. In today's economic maelstrom, the most common responses are panic, fear, anger, distrust, and even hostility. But a Harvard Business Review article "How to Protect Your Job in a Recession" studied the characteristics of recession survivors and found that those who avoided being cut were cheerful, likable, generous contributors, and not necessarily the most skilled and proficient.

"Just don't be the guy who's always in a bad mood, reminding colleagues how vulnerable everyone is. Who wants to be in the trenches with him?" caution authors Janet Banks and Diane Coutu.

Workplace relationship expert Courtney Anderson agrees, and observes that tolerance for bad actors – particularly those higher up the food chain – is shrinking.

"The handwriting is on the wall for them in a lot of organizations," says Ms. Anderson, founder of Courtney Anderson & Associates, a human resources firm in Austin, Texas. "When times are good, companies will tolerate a lot. But in this economy, every single decision is double- and triple-checked. It will be tough for the really poor managers to make it through,"

This could explain why the ax is falling higher up the management chain. Companies are looking to save more money, and bigger salaries yield larger savings. Today's unemployment rate for college-educated workers, 4.1 percent, is the highest it's been since the US Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking the data in 1992. It is more than twice its prerecession level, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, putting the risk of being unemployed proportionately higher for college-educated workers than for less-educated ones.

When productivity is in decline, Anderson says, other factors gain more value in the decisionmaking process about who stays and who goes. "I used to go to organizations," Anderson says, "and they would describe a horrible situation: 'Felicia curses people out, she yells and is mean, but she delivers.' They would want me to figure out how to keep the person and be flexible because the person delivered. Now, with the current macroeconomic picture, they won't put up with it. There is a financial opportunity to get rid of the people who create problems."

Anderson says corporate leaders are now placing more value on workers who add positive energy to the atmosphere beyond increasing sales and visibility. She says that includes placing those who are grouchy and unpleasant on the layoff list, but also the person who never says anything, the colleague who is invisible and flies under the radar.

"All variations of not contributing and making it a positive, efficient workplace are being considered," Anderson says. If striking a cheerful pose in tough times doesn't come naturally, consider that it does require conscious effort. And even the act of trying to be happy can make a difference.

"If you stay positive, you'll have more influence on how things play out," advise Ms. Banks and Ms. Coutu. Banks is a veteran of at least a dozen corporate downsizings, and Coutu has studied resilience in many settings. They say survivors and those who leverage layoffs to their advantage focus on anticipating the needs of customers and those above and below them inside the office.

During periods of numerous layoffs, vacuums occur at all levels, leaving many opportunities to help your boss and the company get more accomplished. "Prove your value to the firm by showing your relevance to the work at hand," Banks and Coutu note, "which may have shifted since the economy softened."

The key to donning recession goggles is to make decisions you won't regret when the recession fades and more prosperous times return.

"We should affirm to ourselves each day why we are doing what we do," Anderson says. "If you are truly, truly miserable, even in a bad economy, you may be better off doing something else: taking a break, going back to school, or working part time. It's valid to ask ourselves: 'Do I enjoy this? Why am I here?' Reevaluate."

She reminds us that if you find you are in a job exclusively for the paycheck – that is, uh, OK. It is a superb reason to go to work and be satisfied in this economy.

"You can still go to work and have a good day," Anderson says. Especially pay day. "Bad times remind us all of the basics.... We shouldn't take things for granted."

Six Steps To Think Like A Millionaire.

Rich people have a different way of thinking as compared to poor and middle class people in a given society. They think about money, wealth, themselves, other people, and live life from a different perspective.

From Mindcafe.org

Keep in mind, beliefs are not true or false and right or wrong, but they are merely past opinions which can be modified on your command. In reality, you can select to think in ways that will support you, instead of thinking in ways that lead to despair. This is important - stay with me . . .

1. Rich People think: “I made my Life”.
 Poor people’s thinking is “Life happens to me.” If you wish to make wealth, it is important that you believe you are at the hand wheel of your life; and that you create every single second of your life. Your financial life, in particular.

If you don’t accept this as reality, then you must admit you have little control over life and that financial success has nothing to do with you. This is not a rich mental attitude.

In place of taking the task for what is going on in their lives, poor people prefer to play the character of a “victim”. Certainly, any victim’s biggest thought-action is “poor me.” In keeping with the law of intention, that is exactly what they acquire; “poor,” as in money, me.

Here’s the simple solution to this problem, which I guarantee, will change your life: For the coming week, I advice you not to sound off in any way. Neither complain about anything using your mouth, nor think unhappy in your mind. You will be surprised with the results and how successful and serene your life will become. I promise.

You can be either a victim, or you can be rich! It’s time to recall your mind power and admit the fact that you create every single second of your life. You create your wealth; you create your poverty and everything in between.

2. Rich People always participate to Win the race. Poor people take part in the race on defense rather than offense. This is actually their main problem. Let’s suppose, if you are strained to run strictly on defense, what are the chances for winning the race? I think the majority will agree; slim and none.

All the same, that is how literally most people participate in the race. Their main objective is survival and security, not wealth and abundance. So, it’s the time for you to decide: What is your objective?

Rich people’s major concern is to become the lord of countless wealth. Poor people’s major concern is to have “enough to make the living…” Few extra bucks, for them, would be a marvel to go!

Again, rethink the power of intention. When your objective is to have enough to make your living, that is precisely how much you’ll get. Not even a coin more! You get what you really plan to get. If you wish to create wealth, your objective has to be “rich”.

3. Rich People are devoted to being Rich.
 Then again, Poor people are uninterested towards being rich. Most of us have logical reasons as to why it would be superb to be rich. But what about the other perspective? Are there reasons why it might not be so good to be rich or experience the process of struggling to get rich?

We actually have a file on wealth in our minds. This file comprises of our personal beliefs that include why being wealthy would be good for us. However, for many people, their file also contains information as to why being rich might not be so good. These people have varied internal messages particularly around money and wealth.

Few of them will think, “Having more wealth will make life a lot more enjoyable.” Conversely, others think like, “Uh-huh, but I’ll have to work harder. So how the heck is that comfy?” Some will say, “I’ll be able to move around the world.” Then again, the others react like, “Nah! Every person in the world would like to have something from me.”

Such confused messages are one of the biggest reasons that most people can not manage to become rich.

Actually, the biggest reason why most people don’t get what they want is, they do not know what they exactly want.

Rich people are firm about what they want -- They want money. They are steadfast in their belief. They are fully devoted to creating wealth. They are ready to do whatever it takes to create wealth. Rich people get it because they do not spread confused messages in the universe.

Getting rich is not a fleeting thought. It takes solid determination, skill, effort and passion. You have to truly commit to it, both consciously and subconsciously. You have to determine you can really do it and that you really deserve it. If you are not fully devoted to creating wealth, chances are you will not get and stay rich.

4. Rich People Think Big.
 Poor people think small. Believe me - everything will change the day you will begin to think big. You want to do big or small? It’s totally up to you. Remember, it’s not about you. It’s about living your objective. It’s about living true to your objective. It’s about attending to others.

Most of us are so caught up in our egos that everything turns around “me, me and more me.” I repeat - it’s not about you. It’s about adding value to others’ lives. Again, it’s totally up to you. The first way leads to being ruined and full of misery. While the other leads to wealth, meaning, and success. So, be wise while making your selection.

5. Rich People Are Bigger than Their Problems.
 Poor people are smaller than their problems. Getting rich is an expedition, not a holiday. It is full of difficulties, gimmicks, and twists. The point here is that, success is messy, and for the same reason, most people don’t take it. In other words, they don’t want problems in their lives.

This is one of the greatest differences between rich people and poor people. Rich and successful people are larger than their problems, while poor and unsuccessful people are smaller than their problems.

Poor people will do almost anything to shun problems. They are afraid of accepting challenges. The irony is that, in their pursuit to ensure they don’t have problems, they have the biggest problem of all: They are unhappy and full of misery.

The secret to success is not to try to keep away from problems. Problems are to be solved when they arise. You should be bigger than any problem. Whether you are rich or poor, doing big or small, problems do not get away. If you are taking a breath, you will always face problems in your life.

What’s essential to recognize here is that the size of the problem is never the main issue. What really matters is the size of you! Bear in mind, your wealth can only grow to the extent that you want!

Grow yourself to an extent where you can conquer any problem that gets in your way of achieving your objectives, and keeping it once you have it. So, do not complain about problems because millionaires are financial warriors and when a warrior faces a challenge, he always says: “Just Bring it on.”

6. Rich People give attention to Opportunities. Fact: Poor people give attention to problems.
Fact: Rich people observe potential growth and focus on the rewards.
Fact: Poor people observe potential loss and focus on the risks.

It’s a long-familiar question: Is the glass half empty or half full? We’re not merely discussing “positive thinking” here. Instead, we are discussing a usual way of observing the world.

Poor people come from panic. Their minds are continually reading for what is going wrong in any situation. The most crucial element of their attitude is “What if it doesn’t work?” or, more honestly, “It won’t work.” Rich people, on the other hand, take liability for creating their life and have the mentality, “It will work because I’ll make it work.”

In the monetary world, it’s evidenced that the risk is directly proportional to reward. The higher the reward, the greater the chances of risk. Rich people are always willing to take that risk. They are confident in their ability and creativity, and look ahead to succeed. On the other hand, poor people always fail to imagine, hence they imagine to fail.

You have to think outside the box. Buy something or start something in order to create wealth. You have to focus on opportunities for success all around, instead of focusing on risks and problems. All the best!!!

There are three types of people in this world.

Those who make things happen.Those who watch things happen. Those who wonder what happened.

Which one will you be today?

We use the Robert Langdon/Sophie Neveu characters from Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code as examples with many of our clients. What are they like?

• Smart - top of their professions.

• Heroic - will do what has to be done.

• Action-oriented - when confronted with a problem/obstacle, they take action.

• Focused - thinks deeply about the topic at hand.

• Clever - thinks outside of the box.

• Communicative - takes charge, but not in an offensive way.

We can go on and on. Bottom line, these two characters present personas that one can use to take action, rather than retreat and let someone else take a chance. It might sound funny or ridiculous - but next time you find yourself in an uncomfortable situation, one where you are forced to step out of your comfort zone - pick a character - and focus on their strengths, make them yours, and you will initiate action immediately.

Focus on your career, not work.

highway1

Sounds a little contradictory, doesn't it? Aren't you supposed to work at work? Doesn't your career progress based on your work? Yes and No. Of course you are supposed to work at work. That's how you get things done. Unfortunately, most executives spend too much time working and not enough time on their career. What do I mean by career? Here are some examples:

• What is your 30/60/90 day plan for your career?

• Who do you know? Who do you need to know, meet and develop a relationship?

• Are the projects/initiatives you manage important/critical to your company? Which ones are?

• How is your company doing? How are your competitors doing?

• Should you stay or go to another company?

Most of the time, we get so caught up in the meetings, the emails, the reviews, and the interpersonal crises, that we lose our long-term vision. Worst-case, after 3-5 years, you are still doing the same-old-stuff, working the same old projects, with the same old people - and you are ripe for a layoff.

Your job is to look at your career through career glasses - monitor and measure where you've been, where you are, and where you're going. Regularly measure what have you accomplished, what are you doing right now, and what you're future prospects might be. Ask yourself the bulleted items above — you'll find that you will have direction, defined activities, and clear goals.

When you are on a trip (that's really what your career is - a loooong trip with regular stops), you need to always know where you are going to end up. If you don't, then it's just a ride — and you don't want to just coast through life.